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Beneath the Surface, p.3

January 24, 2012

What is the process like for the customer?

Reveal and VISIA both take a photograph of the face. Facial photographs are very powerful communicators to customers. People need to know what they look like to better appreciate what improvements they want to make. DermScope is small-field and covers an inch in diameter of skin area, applied to the face or another part of the body. Reveal and VISIA take extremely highquality facial photographs—15-megapixel photos that have controlled lighting so that we get pictures for standard light and polarized light; and in VISIA’s case, also ultraviolet light. It’s a very quick process. For VISIA, the entire process takes only about two minutes. From there, the consultant has a set of topics to review, which range from skin analysis components in each category—spots, pores, wrinkles, texture, etc.—to other diagnostic tools, like an aging simulator that can show what the skin could look like in five to seven years if the customer does nothing to change her current skincare regimen; which is very powerful. It also shows what she could look like with an enhanced skincare regimen in two or three years. Our retailers and partners find [this to be] a powerful communicator in helping people understand what their range of optionsmight be.

What is the experience like for the beauty retailer?

While the photograph is on the screen, the software adjusts the information it presents. If you’re looking at spots, for example, it’ll identify the spots of hyperpigmentation, and measure and count them. Technology also informs the customer as to how severe the problems are so that she knows how she compares to peer groups. [So] if a woman is in her 30s, the system can tell her how many spots or how much hyperpigmentation she has, and how she compares to women of approximately the same age. This helps both the customer and salesperson to appreciate the severity of the problems. When you compare that across eight different dimensions of skin analysis, it provides a comprehensive set of information for that customer, and the store has the option to print out that report.

Because the system is digital, all of the information is stored so that if customers adopt a skincare regimen, they can see the progress over time. They can take a frontal-facial picture or take the picture at a 45-degree angle—which is helpful because customers can see wrinkles, finelines, crow’s-feet, etc.—and take pictures of the cheek and nasal areas. The photograph is the most powerful part of the consultation.